From the land of plenty

I just found a poetry contest at The American Street that reminds me that poetry can be political, too. Its single rule: Use Donald Rumsfeld's line, "You go to war with [sic: what] you have," in verse of three lines or more.

I might tap one out, but here's my pick so far:

Scrounging through the spoils of war
Finding scrap and little more,
The soldier stood and faced the man
Who answered from the speaker’s stand,
“You go to war with what you have”

Another man, in other ranks
Facing guns and planes and tanks
Sets a charge and turns away
Another bomb, another day
“You go to war with what you have”

The President sets forth his case
Claim victory while saving face
The heavy cost is justified
While bolstering our common pride
“You go to war with what you have”

In towns and cities through the nation
Witnessing the same occasion
Sons, daughters, husbands, wives
Called to set aside their lives
“You go to war with what you have”

by Harry — December 23, 2004 @ 8:38 pm

An online friend's brother just came home from Iraq, alive thank God. But this US Marine does have bacterial meningitis and otitis media, and almost lost an eye. He didn't go over there with any of that (except the eye, of course). Dare anyone call me unpatriotic because I question how our troops are provisioned and cared for as they fight this $152-billion-and-counting war that has no end in sight?